Wallabies coach Michael Cheika says Quade Cooper remains a big part of his World Cup plans

INJURY and contract dramas be damned — Quade Cooper remains a big part of Michael Cheika’s Wallabies World Cup plans.

DUNEDIN, NEW ZEALAND - OCTOBER 19: Quade Cooper of Australia looks on during The Rugby Championship match between the New Zealand All Blacks and the Australian Wallabies at Forsyth Barr Stadium on October 19, 2013 in Dunedin, New Zealand. (Photo by Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images)

INJURY and contract dramas be damned — Quade Cooper remains a big part of Michael Cheika’s Wallabies World Cup plans.

The mercurial playmaker continues to hog the headlines ahead of this weekend’s Super Rugby semi-finals, after the Queenland Reds pulled the pin on contract negotiations and news emerged that Cooper had sustained his third shoulder injury in five months.

But Cheika, the Wallabies and Waratahs coach, told Rugby HQ on Thursday night that Cooper could expect opportunities to add to his 53 Tests.

“Yeah. Obviously everything goes on your performances etc but the guy is a quality footballer,” Cheika said.

“If he gets the opportunity to play with us [the Wallabies], it might free him up a bit more and get him really attacking the line and putting some doubt in the opposition.

“And that’s what he’s been so good at over the years.”

Cooper has been picked in a Wallabies training squad and despite suffering another shoulder injury Cheika said he “should be right for the first Test [against South Africa in Brisbane on July 18].”

Cooper is established as the back-up Wallabies fly half behind the more orthodox Bernard Foley and offers an X-factor off the bench should Cheika want to add a different dimension to Australia’s attack.

But while cleared of major injury, Cooper’s club future remains decidedly murky after the Reds ran out of patience.

Cooper has reportedly signed a letter of intent to join Toulon after the World Cup and would need to pay the French giants somewhere in the vicinity of $200,000 to extricate himself from the deal.

It is understood Cooper — whose model girlfriend lives in Sydney — has had a change of heart and now wants to stay in Australia but the Waratahs are not interested in a deal involving the 2016 Super Rugby season.

Both Cooper and the Australian Rugby Union are keen on him becoming the face of the national sevens team at next year’s Olympics but those talks are also complicated given the side is yet to qualify for Rio.

“There’s been an offer made [from the ARU] and we’re just waiting to hear back,” Cheika said.

“If he played sevens, he could still play for the Wallabies after that, if his form was considered good enough and he was in the right nick.

“After that it’s really up to him to strike a deal with a Super Rugby team.

“He’s taking his time to make a decision and that’s his right.

“The Australian top-up side of things, it’s probably not as big an issue, time-wise, as it is for Queensland because they’ve got to get on with their planning.

“No stress — I just want him to get himself right and get himself into the best form possible as the Tests come.”

Cheika added that Europe-based veterans Matt Giteau, George Smith and Drew Mitchell remained in his thinking for The Rugby Championship and World Cup.

“There’s a chance that they might get invited back to one of the squads,” he said.

“There’s a chance we’ll see them here early enough so that we should get a look at them.

“There’ll be guys in the squad that they haven’t met so you’ve got to get them in and have a look.”

Meanwhile, with his Waratahs hat on, Cheika dismissed suggestions from livewire Highlanders halfback Aaron Smith that the defending champions would try to slow the game down in Saturday’s semi-final in Sydney.

But that flies in the face of his assistant coach, Daryl Gibson, who told reporters earlier on Thursday that: “we need to try and put the brakes on them to try and slow them down, and try and dictate the tempo of the game that we want to play.”

“The ground out here is going to slow them down a bit and so we certainly don’t fear their style, but we know we’re in for a good challenge,” Gibson said.

Originally published as Wallabies coach Michael Cheika says Quade Cooper remains a big part of his World Cup plans